Table 1 Systematic Mapping Research Questions

RQ1

When and in which type of vehicle have the publications been published?

Providing understanding on when and in which type of vehicles (e.g., conference, workshop, journal, etc.) the selected publications have been published.

RQ2

What measures have been applied in SPC initiatives (or suggested for it)?

Identifying measures that have been applied in SPC initiatives or that have been suggested for them and verifying if a same measure has been applied in many different initiatives or suggested by different publications.

RQ3

What goals have led to the use/suggestion of the measures?

Identifying the goals related to the measures and verifying if a same measure is related to different goals in different publications.

RQ4

What processes are the measures related to?

Identifying the processes to which the identified measures are related and verifying if certain processes have been used more often.

RQ5

Which are the measure categories?

Identifying categories of the measures and verifying if any category has been more frequent. For categorizing a measure, it must be considered the categories suggested in (MCGARRY et al.2002), namely: Time, Cost, Effort, Performance and Size.

RQ6

Have the measures been used in SPC initiatives?

Investigating if the identified measures have been used in practical experiences involving SPC.

RQ7

Have the measures been used in the context of SPI standards/models? Which ones?

Investigating if the identified measures have been used in the context of software process improvement programs based on standards or maturity models. Moreover, identifying the standards and models used in the initiatives.